Simple protein makes embryonic stem cells thrive

AT LONG last, researchers have proved that they can make human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) without destroying embryos. This may get round some moral objections to embryo research, but more importantly it has brought to light a substance that should help all stem-cell researchers improve their craft.

That substance is laminin - a protein found in the basement membranes underlying layers of skin. It made all the difference to work by Robert Lanza and his team at Advanced Cell Technology, a company in Worcester, Massachusetts, who last week reported creating hESCs from human embryos without destroying them (Cell Stem Cell, DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2007.12.013).

Until now, hESCs have all been extracted from human embryos, which have perished in the process. Lanza avoided this by plucking out a single blastomere - one of the eight cells in an early-stage human embryo - and using it to generate a new colony of ...

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